Open toe footwear with tieable vamp



June 5, 1962 E. MQDORMAN OPEN TOE FOOTWEAR WITH TIEABLE VAMP Filed Oct. 28, 1958 INVENTOR. [mi/cu MDorman United States Patent 3,037,302 OPEN TOE FOQTWEAR WITH TIEABLE VAMP Emilou McDorman, 952 th Ave., New York 21, N.Y., assignor of one half to Bernard Olcott, New York, N .Y. Filed Oct. 28, 1958, Ser. No. 770,045 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-115) This invention relates to footwear and particularly to adjustable slippers.

The manufacturing and merchandising aspect of providing a mass produced low cost slipper which will be form fitting in a comfortable manner for a wide range of foot sizes presents a vexing problem to the industry. This vexing problem is not limited to the domestic market in which the consumer normally purchases such items for himself in a packaged condition which prevents him from sizing the slipper for his foot. The problem becomes somewhat more acute when the purchaser buys the footwear for another member of the household, or as a gift for another person. Additionally the institutional market such as hospitals and rest homes have to cope with an inventory and hygienic problem for providing comfortable footwear in view of the normal wide range of foot sizes, as well as abnormal foot deformities, of their inmates.

The broad objective of the present invention is to provide adjustable footwear which promotes standardization of manufacturing operations and enhances the merchandising appeal to the consumer by offering an attractive, low priced article which is instantly recognized as being extremely comfortable and adjustable to a wide range of foot sizes including foot deformities. Furthermore, it is intended to provide such footwear which can be sterilized and medicated.

As contemplated, in accordance with this invention there is provided an adjustable footwear comprising a flexible sole member and a pair of tieable soft tapering members secured to inside and outside edges respectively of the sole member near the toe and ball of the foot position of the sole member. The tapering members near the line of attachment to the sole member are gathered to form expandable pleats whereby the tapering members when tied in a knot provide a comfortable form fitting open toe vamp.

The general nature of the invention having been set forth, embodiments of the invention will now be described illustratively by way of example in terms of the following specification and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plain view of a slipper in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates how the slipper of FIG. 1 is arranged to accommodate a foot; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative arrangement for forming the vamp in FIG. 2.

In the slipper embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, a flexible sole member has attached thereto at outside edge 10a and inside edge 10b of a forward portion of the sole (relative to its shank) a pair of spaced pliable tapering members 11a and 11b respectively, the material of the tapering members being, for example, soft fabric or cloth. The unattached or free ends 12a and 12b of the tapering members are tied in a knot, such as a square knot, as shown in FIG. 2 after the wearers foot is placed on the sole member so that the vamp of the slipper can be individually adjusted. For enhancing the form fitting of the vamp, each tapering member is gathered at or near the line of attachment to the sole member for forming expandable pleats as shown at 13 in FIG. 1. This gathering can be conveniently and readily effected when the tapering members are attached to the sole member, one method of attachment being by sewing. As shown, the spaced tapering members 11a and 11b extend in a continuous manner forwardly of approximately the shank portion of the sole member 10 at least along a ball portion thereof and preferably into a toe portion thereof. However, to provide an open toe vamp, the tapering members are spaced appreciably as measured along the tip periphery of the sole member, as, for instance, by at least one-fourth or one-half the length of attachment of either tapering member to the sole, as best shown in FIG. 1. To further promote comfort, the tapering member 11b which forms the half vamp for the inside of the foot can be disposed closer to the tip of the sole relative to the other tapering member 11a as shown in FIG. 1.

The expandable pleats 13 together with the rather considerable stretch characteristic of soft cloth in lengthwise, crosswise and diagonal directions provide a snug form fitting vamp. Additionally, feet with abnormalities such as hammer toes, bunions, corns, missing toes, unmatched foot sizes, etc. can be comfortably and custom fitted.

Alternatively, a half knot and pin device can be employed as shown in FIG. 3 to secure the free ends 12a and 12b of the tapering members.

The flexible sole member 10 can be fabricated in a number of known manners. For instance it can comprise a core of foam rubber sandwiched between a canvas wearing surface and a cloth inner sole. For institutional use, the sole member can be all canvas and cloth so that the entire slipper can be sterilized by boiling. Alternatively, after sterilizing, the entire slipper may be impregnated with medication for hygienic purposes for the treatment of athletes foot. Shrinkage of the fabric by boiling water will not impair the subsequent form fit of the vamp when the ends of the tapering members 11a and 11b are retied.

It is to be understood that variations and modificatiosn may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and that the disclosure herein is to be taken as being illustrative of the invention and not in limitation thereof.

I claim:

1. An open-teed article of footwear comprising a sole member having a ball portion, a pair of pliable tapering members, the wide end of one tapering member being secured to one lateral edge portion of said sole member continuously throughout said ball portion thereof, the wide end of the other tapering member being similarly secured to the opposite edge portion of said sole member, the free end portions of said tapering members being adapted to be secured together to form a vamp, said wide ends of said tapering members being fixedly pleated where they are secured to said sole member to render said vamp expansible.

2. An open-toed article of footwear comprising a sole member having a ball portion, a pair of pliable tapering members, the wide end of one tapering member being secured to one lateral edge portion of said sole member continuously throughout said ball portion thereof, th wide end of the other tapering member being similarly secured to the opposite edge portion of said sole member, the free end portions of said tapering members being adapted to be secured together to form a vamp, said wide ends of said tapering members being fixedly pleated Where they are secured to said sole member to render said vamp expansi'ble, and wherein said sole member has a toe portion contiguous with and forward of said ball portion, at least one of said pliable tapering members extending into said toe portion.

3. An open-toed article of footwear comprising a sole member having a ball portion, a pair of pliable tapering members, the wide end of one tapering member being Patented June 5, 1962 secured to one lateral edge portion of said sole member continuously throughout said ball portion thereof, the Wide end of the other tapering member being similarly secured to the opposite edge portion of said sole member, the free end portions of said tapering members being adapted to be secured together to form a vamp, said wide ends of said tapering members being fixedly pleated where they are secured to said sole member to render said vamp expansible, and wherein said sole member has a shank portion contiguous with and rearward of said ball portion, at least one of said pliable tapering members extending into said shank portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,012,245 Chase Dec. 19, 1911 Langendorf Feb. 3,

Hess June 20,

Alexander May 10,

Dadisman May 30, Johnson Dec. 19,

Hilton Nov. 10,

Rogers July 23,

FOREIGN PATENTS Italy Jan. 25,

France Dec. 15,

France Jan. 7, 

